Category: Lifestyle

To be completely honest, I can’t quite believe what I’m typing out because it feels so unreal but..

IT’S MY SECOND BLOGGERVERSARY!

(Sorry for the all caps there, I’m just really excited haha..)

It feels absolutely incredible to have (somewhat?) successfully completed TWO years of blogging!? (I’m still a bit stunned).

I know that this year I wasn’t able to blog even half as much as I wanted to, mainly because I didn’t prioritize my blog as much as I wanted to and during the past couple of weeks I haven’t been able to have any access to the blogosphere as my device started malfunctioning. (oops)

Anyway, all of that aside, I still feel like I have learnt so much this year as well, although it seems to have flown by. I think I’ll chat about that in a different post, otherwise this one would be really long haha..

Whenever I blog-finish planning a post, making the graphics, writing, editing and then finally hitting publish-it always gives me an overwhelming sense of excitement, satisfaction and just pure happiness. That feeling is one that is just irreplaceable! It’s a definite part of what makes blogging so special.

The thought of having other people reading-even enjoying-something that you have written is just amazing!

Starting my blog on August 1st two years ago, was most definitely one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made! Through my blog I’ve not only been able to express my ideas and thoughts on a completely different platform, but I have also been lucky enough to have gotten to know the most AMAZING people!

Last year, I hosted a blog party to celebrate my bloggerversary, so I thought; Why not have one this year as well?

Blog parties are a fab way to get to know more amazing bloggers in the community and to just celebrate and have fun!

Here’s How it Works:

You leave a comment introducing yourself and your blog (don’t forget to leave a link!)

Interact with the other people who have left a comment. Start up a conversation!

Get to know more bloggers and have fun!

I wanted to add in a couple of extra details (just to make the party more unique!)

Bring virtual party food! (donuts are the best, but cake and ice cream are always appreciated!)

Include one of your hobbies/interests in your description so you can find more people who share your passions.

Feel free to add in a random fact about yourself. I always think that these are really fun to read.

example-I like pineapples! (I really do haha..it’s abit random, but it’s still a fact!)

Always be polite and kind in the comments and please don’t say anything that could potentially offend or upset anyone!

That’s about it! I really hope that you enjoy the party (I’m really looking forward to it) and I hope that you have an amazing time! *hands donuts*

Thank you all so so much for all of your love,support and amazing comments throughout the past two years, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it!

It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it? Well, this post is the reason why..

I’ve been re-doing my blog! Oh and I had exams. But I redesigned my blog! That’s the important thing haha…(as you can probably tell,I’m really excited)

I had a ton of ideas for my blog and I decided to just plan it all out and just go for it! I also really wanted to improve the quality of my blog-the graphics, content, pictures etc and I really hope that you all like it!

Okay. It’s time for the most important part! The Before and After pictures. After all a real re-design isn’t complete without it! 😉

I already loved the overall colour scheme of my old blog design, so I decided to use the similar colour palette, but with less colours so that it wouldn’t look too cluttered. I also wanted to change up the fonts I used and be a bit more consistent with my overall design!

Oh! And I changed my theme as well. I wanted my blog to be a bit more minimalistic and also easier to access so I switched themes from the WordPress theme-Dara to Toujours. One of my favorite features of both themes was the fact that they were both so easy to customize and they both had a ‘featured’ content slider for your home page! I’d definitely recommend both themes if you are looking for a change in your blog design.

There definitely isn’t that much of a drastic change, but I still really like how it looks!

While I was re-designing my blog, I came up with loads of fun new blog post ideas as well as ways to try and make my blog posts better! Since I haven’t done a blog update for absolutely ages, I thought that now would be the perfect time to have one!

As you can probably tell now, my blogging style has changed a tad bit. I’m thinking about using more pictures and graphics in my posts. I love having visuals along with my blog posts so I think that it’ll be a nice little addition!

I’ve also decided to update the style of my special Blogging Days!

Motivational Monday-

Motivational Mondays are a randomly posted (at least once a month) blog post to hopefully inspire you to have a better week, share my favorite quotes for staying motivated, chat about topics that I think are important and maybe even share a couple of DIYs! Whatever it is, I just want Motivational Mondays to help you all (and me!) stay inspired to be the best version of yourself. (And to spread positivity as well,of course!)

Talent Tuesday-

I don’t think I’ve ever had a proper ‘Talent Tuesday’ on my blog before but I’ve always wanted to! Talent Tuesday’s are the days on my blog when I collab with amazingly talented people, host fun interviews and do other lovely things with other fabulous people!

Wacky Wednesday-

Wacky Wednesdays have got a whole new look as well as a lot of fun new features like the scale of Wack-Fab-Ness (Wackiness+Fabulous-Ness?) where you get to decide how wacky/ fab that day’s experiment/experience was! I’ve also got a ton of ideas for new posts, including a challenge on trying not to talk for a day (Terribly hard for someone like me, because I tend to talk quite a bit haha..) and trying to bake my dream cookies! (Cookies+ Sasha=A Very Risky Combo)

Apart from these special days, I’ll still try to post regularly every Sunday and I’ll also be continuing ‘Sasha Chats’- The Occasional Chatty Sunday post where I chat about a lot of fun topics and just ramble (a lot) haha..

I’m also thinking about starting a little addition for ‘Sasha Chats’ called ‘Sasha Speaks Out’. I want to delve a little deeper into more topics like Bullying,Confidence, Staying Positive and other important topics! I actually need all of your help on this one because I’m not sure if I want to add in this to ‘Sasha Chats’ or just continue having it on my ‘Motivational Monday’ posts like I used to do.

I’ll also be continuing ‘Dreamer Diaries’ which is my official blog name for my travel diaries! I haven’t got any planned yet, but it’ll still definitely be a part of my blog!

I think that’s about it for my Update! It’s not as massive as my previous ones, but I’m still quite pleased with how everything has turned out! I really hope that you like my new design and that you are just as excited as I am for my new (and hopefully improved?) blog posts!

What did you think of the new design? Do you like it?? Do you have any design tips, you’d like to share? What do you think of the blog Update? Do you have any other suggestions? I’d love to hear them! Also, how is your day/ night going?I hope that you are having an amazing one!

Today I’m finally going to be sharing my go-to DIY lip scrub recipe. If you are anything like me and you have chapped lips all.the.time then this recipe is definitely for you! I discovered this recipe quite a while ago and I altered it lil’ bit to make it more amazing and I really hope that you all like it!

Oh, and you know the best part about this recipe? It can be done made in under three minutes and it’s really really easy too!

Sugar- 1 tablespoon

Coconut oil-1 teaspoon (you could also substitute this with olive oil or even honey)

Vanilla Essence or Extract.

Pink or Red food colouring (optional)

A Container

Mix together the oil and sugar.

Then add in vanilla extract (or any other flavoring of your choice) along with a couple of drops of food coloring. (For a little pop of colour or tint after using the lip scrub!)

Mix it all together, pop it into a container and then you are done!

If you want to, you can decorate your container as well,I used a bit of washi tape and a couple of letter stickers to make mine a bit more unique and fun!

I absolutely adore this lip scrub and I hope that you do too! It was honestly a life-saver because at some point my lips had gotten so chapped that I could barely even smile without suppressing a grimace of pain. It was awful.

I’d recommend using this with a toothbrush (I know it sounds weird but, hey, it works!) and sort of using it to brush your lips? (With the lip scrub, of course!) It’s actually one of the most effective ways to use it as well haha..you could use your fingers too,of course, but this was just the easiest and the quickest way to do it!

Oh,and you can always feel free to experiment with new flavors and combinations! I made Nutella lip balm a while ago and I can definitely customize this recipe to make a Nutella lip scrub too! You can be as wild and creative as you’d like!

Okay, now I’m dying to know: if you could make a lip scrub or a lip balm in any flavor or combination (go as crazy as you’d like), what would it be?? I think I would probably make something that smells like chocolate but looks like a rainbow. (Rainbow chocolate? Hmmm)

Oh, and do you have chapped lips too? If so,how do you deal with it? I’d love to know!

Gosh, it feels so amazing to be able to blog again! I’ve missed this more than I could have ever imagined!

One of my biggest goals this year was to not have any blogging hiatuses and unfortunately almost as soon as I made it, I took an unannounced hiatus. I’m so sorry everyone!!

I feel absolutely awful and the worst part is, it was so unexpected that I didn’t even realize I was on a hiatus! Recently I signed up for quite a few extracurricular activities and took part in a couple of other events, but I didn’t expect it to take up so much of my free time, which of course, I use to blog.

In short: February was an absolute whirlwind of a month and I even quite enjoyed it? but as a consequence I had absolutely NO time to blog or even read! (terrible, I know!)

I had a TON of ideas, but I just had no time to sit and type up a post or even just have a quick chat with all you! Well, not until now, of course. It’s all still a bit crazy (not as bad as before though) but I think I will just have to learn how to juggle it all, because blogging is way too special to give up!

I suppose in a way, this hiatus was a sort of blessing in disguise though? I was able to focus more on specific things and just learn, which was lovely and everything but I still really missed my blog.

Every time I go on a hiatus, I always realize that when I return to the blogosphere, I just feel more motivated and re-energized and this hiatus (as exhausting as it was) was most definitely not an exception. 😉

Oh, and one of the main reasons this post is a ‘Sasha Chats’ post and not an ordinary one, is because I just love chatty posts (as you have probably guessed haha) and because I thought that this would be the perfect way to hopefully explain everything and also just catch up!

My last ‘Motivational Monday’ post was one of my fave blog posts to write and I was thrilled at the positivity that I saw through the comments, so thank you all so much!!

I had never written something like that on my blog before and it was a bit of a challenge to sort of spill out everything that had been running through my head, but it was most definitely worth it! If you haven’t checked out yet, then please do! I’d love to know your thoughts! You can read it here.

I also wanted to chat a bit more about balancing everything in your life? I know it can be really overwhelming at times (or in my case, for a whole month!) but I think that in the end it all comes to how you decide to deal with it.

Last year, I came up with a blogging schedule that I loved. I still do love it actually, so I’m just going to strengthen my resolve to stick to it. I have chosen to blog usually during the weekends (unless it’s an extra special post) and I’ve found that it gives me quite a lot of flexibility but also doesn’t cut into the time that’s reserved for other things like school, reading and daydreaming! (those things must be prioritized too!)

Oh, and I have a really exciting announcement to make!

*dramatic pause*

I’m going to be redesigning my blog! As most of you have probably already noticed the style and design of my blog posts have changed quite a bit during the past few weeks, and I think that my blog has definitely grown quite a bit since my blog makeover last year.

So,I thought that it would be really fun to have another makeover! I’ve really enjoyed playing around with the different styles and variations of potential blog graphics (the featured image for this post is a ‘lil sneak peek!) and I absolutely CANNOT wait for the big reveal! ❤

That’s it for this week’s ‘Sasha Chats’! I really do hope that you enjoyed reading it! What are your tips on balancing school and a blog? Have you ever gone on an unexpected hiatus?? Do you have any special plans for your blog, too? Let me know in the comments down below!

This post is a really exciting one! I’ve been actually wanting to share my ‘2017 Favorites’ on my blog for ages, and I’ve finally decided to do it! This was originally going to be a miscellaneous Favorites post but as soon as I realized how many book favorites I had, I just knew that I had to dedicate a whole blog post to it, otherwise I just wouldn’t be doing these amazing books justice.

As I’ve probably mentioned countless times on this blog, I absolutely LOVE to read. Books are very important to me. That is what makes this post so exciting! I read quite a bit last year,and from all of those books, I picked my TOP 17 to share with you all! (this was quite a hard task haha..) Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take the pictures of some of the books that I wanted to mention in this post, but they were so amazing so I wanted to add them in anyway!

The Legend series- Marie Lu

These books were my first introduction to the AMAZING author Marie Lu! I was super excited when I got my hands on the first book, and I was literally in awe of her writing the whole time. The plot is really gripping and intense but also really unique! I absolutely LOVED it! I simply CANNOT wait to read more of her books now!

The Book Thief- Markus Zusak

This book was one I had heard a LOT about and I must say, it definitely did not disappoint! When I first began reading I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but after the first couple of pages, I was dragged into the story and I just couldn’t stop reading until Death had finished his story. Markus Zusak is a GENIUS.

Lock And Key- Sarah Dessen

Sarah Dessen was on my list of “Must Read Authors in 2017′ and although I had already heard so much about her, I was still stunned by her writing and just the whole book in general. The characters were so.. real and honest. You could literally feel what they were going through. In fact during some points of the story, I felt as if I was the character. Definitely one of the best contemporary novels I’ve read.

Flawed and Perfect-Cecilia Ahern

I’ve already mentioned this book loads of times last year, (sorry ’bout that!) but I simply couldn’t resist adding it in! The plot and the characters and just the whole book in general was just AMAZING! It definitely deserves more recognition.

Girl Out of Water- Nat Luurtsema

This book had me cracking up the whole time I was reading it. In fact I’m about 70 percent sure that my sister thought I was going nuts haha.. I just couldn’t help it! This book is hilarious! It’s warm, funny and lighthearted, and the characters just immediately become like your friends! I loved every minute of it!

Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor- Rick Riordan

I just HAD to include a RR book! It was quite a struggle trying to pick which book I liked more-The Dark Prophecy or this one. I loved both books equally though! Although,I must say- the real reason I chose this one is because of the characters and their amazing friendship! I LOVED reading it!

Geek Girl Series-Holly Smale

I had originally only read the fifth book of this series and I LOVED it so much that I simply HAD to read the rest of the books! After I started, I just couldn’t stop! I really really enjoyed reading it! It is just a really warm, fun and lovable series. Even all of the characters are fabulous. Oh and Harriet Manners is now my new fictional best friend.(Sorry Nat!)

The Maze Runner series- James Dashner

I don’t know what I can type out to do these books justice? THEY WERE AMAZING! AS usual, when I first started reading these books I had NO idea what to expect but I loved it! Imagine going on adrenaline filled adventure camp, then multiply that feeling into a 100 and then you will have a small idea of what reading this book felt like. If you haven’t read it already, then you simply MUST read it as soon as you possibly can!

The Potion Diaries-Amy Alward

This book is one of those fun, fluffy sort of books that are PERFECT to finish reading in one sitting! It had adventure, potions and amazing characters and it was a really enjoyable read! I loved the plot and just the whole story behind the book and the characters. I read this while I was on holiday and I think that the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. ♥

A few other AMAZING books that I wasn’t able to take pictures of, but I still loved so much that I couldn’t bear to not include them are-

A Monster Calls- Patrick Ness (I had never ever cried SO much for a book.It was simply beautiful.)

The Kite Runner-Khaled Hosseini (You can read my full review on it here)

A Library of Lemons-Jo Cotterill.(I LOVED IT!)

What do you think of these books?? Have you read any of them and if so, did you love them just as much as I did? Do you have any other AMAZING book recommendations that I missed out on? let me know in the comments down below! (oh, and what do you think of the pictures??)

I hope that you have all been having a great week so far! Or should I say great year..? I honestly cannot believe it’s 2018 already!! It feels so unreal. I’ve also got to get used to writing ‘2018’ on everything now haha..

I really wanted to post this during the last week of December, but for some reason the WordPress app keeps freezing and crashing and whenever I attempted to read any body else’s post or type up my post and tried to save it, everything just kept getting deleted which was quite odd..? (I am going to email WordPress about it and hopefully the issue will get resolved soon!)

Anyway! It’s 2018 everyone!! That means it’s a new year which also means new goals and a whole new year of opportunities! 😊

2017 was an amazing year. Definitely a year that would be impossible to forget. I learnt so much and experienced so many things that I literally could have only dreamed of experiencing!

But before I get onto that, I just want to look back at my 2017 goals and see if I successfully accomplished them last year. I actually did a blog post on this last year as well,and it was really fun! You can check it out here.

Do well in School ✔️ (this one was kind of vague but I definitely worked really hard last year and I think it paid off quite a bit 😊)

Read over 50 books ✔️✔️ (I read over 140 books last year which was AMAZING!)

Smile at least 5 people in one day✔️✔️ 😁

Experiment with different styles✔️✔️ (I experimented a LOT during the holidays and I tried to dress up as a fun character every day. I had a blast!)

Visit a place I haven’t ever been to before ✔️ (I explored a couple of other local places too, but you can check out my Singapore travel diary here)

Make Unicorn poop! ❌ (Hopefully I can try it out this year)

Get better at photography ✔️ (I hope I did at least haha..)

Learn to Code ✔️ (I did learn a few of the basics but I still have a LOT more to do, I can’t wait to learn it all though!)

Goals wise-I think I did pretty well? I mean I didn’t accomplish everything but I still had a lot of fun, and I’m just going to use the goals that I haven’t accomplished as motivation to do better this year! 😊❤️

I made a couple of goals for this year and I hope that when I look back onto this post (next year! 😍) I can say that I’ve accomplished my goals!

Experiment with new kinds of blog posts! (Blog about something that I haven’t blogged about before!)

Learn a new language! (I’ve started to learn Italian and I’m really enjoying it so far!)

Get better at coding

Read 200 books! 📚

Try out different at least 3 different kinds of food.

Successfully make slime? 😂

Take up a new sport!

Experiment with new things and challenges!

Do well in school (And work harder! 😊)

Bake more! (I haven’t been baking very much lately, and I really miss it)

Write, Write and Write some more!

Like I mentioned in my post last year, I want to keep my goals fun and achievable (well hopefully anyway!) so that I can enjoy doing them! 😉

Last year was lovely and I enjoyed every single minute of it! Nothing in life is perfect but sometimes you just have to stop looking for perfection and just LIVE in the moment.

A little motto I had on holiday was- Have No Regrets! And that included not doing anything silly but just making the most out of every opportunity that I got. And I did it.

Usually I’m quite a cautious person, but last year I’ve learnt that if you don’t grab your opportunities when they come, you might never get them back.

It’s like time. Once it’s gone, it cannot be replaced or bought back. So from now on, I’m hopefully going to make the most out of every moment! Because it’s something to truly treasure and it’s precious. So I don’t want to take advantage of it but simply value it.😊

Blogging wise, I had a blast! I really really enjoyed being able to blog last year and although I did take quite a number of hiatuses, I’m still pleased with how the year went because I was able to genuinely enjoy the whole blogging process, and not stress myself out too much. And although it did get a bit overwhelming sometimes, it was all a part of the learning process!

The stats for this year have been quite unbelievable! In fact, IM ABSOLUTELY THRILLED! Thank you all so much for all of your support! (The reason I’m not mentioning the actual numbers is because I have already mentioned it in my blogerversary posts. Also, numbers can’t always do justice to the amount of love and support you all gave me!)

Although, I did take quite a few hiatuses, I did blog quite a bit and I really want to share my absolute favourite ones!

I hope that you are all having a lovely Monday! I know that Mondays can sometimes be the most unappealing days of the week. Especially after an amazing weekend that didn’t deserve to end so quickly. How dare Monday just take that pleasure away? Right?😂

Anyway, the reason I started up Motivational Mondays is to (hopefully) help with those Monday Mornin’ Blues and help to brighten up your week! ❤️ The last time I did this was almost a year ago, which is absolutely crazy to think about. I shared some tips on how to make Mondays less stressful and more fun.

This week, I decided to share some of my favorite quotes to help you (and me!) make this week AMAZING! Let’s do this!

Quote #1

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Quote #7

I found all of these AMAZING quotes on Pinterest so the quotes do not belong to me, but the designs do! I designed each of these quotes for all of you so that you can use it as a wallpaper on your phone or print it out and tape it up on your wall! (If you do share this, please don’t forget to give credit!)

Overall, I just hope that it helps you get inspired and (hopefully!) makes your Monday a bit brighter!

What do you think about Mondays? Do you like any of these quotes? Oh, and if so,which one was your favorite? I really want to know! 😉

Comments of the Week go to..🎉🎉

Tabi! And..Ella! Thank you all so much for your lovely comments and for reading this post!